O’Neill added: “Celtic are actively seeking a manager and they’ve a certain number of days to try and do something. They will want a man in place for when they come back for pre-season as their season starts pretty early. They’ve got the Champions League qualifiers in July.”

Keane held informal talks over the phone with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond on Wednesday night. And they are poised to meet face to face over the next few days as the Ireland squad is breaking up after tonight’s game until Tuesday night.

O’Neill, who maintains he’ll fight to keep Keane, is adamant his No.2 is capable of filling Lennon’s boots.

He said: “Roy has lived with pressure all his life in terms of leading a very strong Manchester United side year in year out. He’s managed at Sunderland very, successfully so in terms of pressure, he’s capable of handling those things without a problem.”

When asked how many names were in the frame for the manager’s job, Lawwell said: “Between five and 10.

“We’re looking at a number of exceptional candidates and we’re going through a process. Hopefully it won’t take too long.

“We have got a number of excellent candidates, Roy is one of them. He’s played here, he’s a Celtic supporter, he’s a first class guy.

“You don’t want to get it wrong by going too fast, you need to take your time and make sure you get the right guy.”